In the latest move by a major Internet player to beef up its online advertising prowess, Yahoo Inc. has agreed to pay about $300 million for ad network BlueLithium, which specializes in targeting ads to consumers based on their behavior.
“BlueLithium’s products, technology and team will be an integral part of our drive to build the industry’s leading advertising and publishing network,” says Jerry Yang, Yahoo CEO. “This acquisition will extend our ability to deliver powerful data analytics, advanced targeting and innovative media buying strategies to our customers, who are increasingly looking for these insights.”
Yahoo, citing data from Internet measurement firm comScore Inc., says BlueLithium is the fifth-largest ad network in the U.S. and second in the United Kingdom. More than 119 million unique U.S. residents viewed BlueLithium ads in July, representing 66% of the U.S. online population that month, comScore reports.
One of BlueLithium’s services is called AdPath Behavoural Targeting, which presents ads based on a web user’s profile. For instance, someone who has previously responded to travel ads would see a different ad than someone who has demonstrated an interest in extreme sports, BlueLithium explains on its web site.
The company also offers a “remarketing” service that follows visitors to a particular site as they move on and browse on different sites in the BlueLithium network of about 1,000 web sites. “We serve them customized messages designed to bring them back to your site to upsell, cross-sell or complete a purchase,” the company says.
San Jose, CA-based BlueLithium will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Yahoo when the deal closes, which Yahoo expects to occur in the fourth quarter. BlueLithium CEO Gurbaksh Chahal will stay on “for an interim period through the integration,” Yahoo says.
The deal is the latest in a series this year in which online powerhouses have snapped up Internet advertising companies. Yahoo this spring acquired online ad exchange Right Media and Microsoft Corp. bought aQuantive. Google Inc. announced plans to buy DoubleClick Inc., but regulators are still reviewing that acquisition.
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